Pottery 102 - Nights 2 and 3

I was late in putting up my blog for night 2, so I decided to just combine them into one update for you! The last two nights have been feverish to say the least. Some of the phrases that come to mind are, "Burning the candle at both ends", "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off" and "Busier than a one armed paper hanger".

Anyway, I have a lot of pieces that were bisque fired a couple of weeks ago and a glaze firing coming up, as well as a few pieces that needed to be trimmed before they dried out too much on me. So two weeks ago I was glazing, trimming, trying to dry out some wet stuff before it was trimmed, glazing some more. Generally running about before time was up.

This week, I trimmed four pieces, and glazed another 5 or 6. It's a little tedious, but I am learning a lot. Also, that means I have more things to glaze and hence, more things to show you very soon! I'm getting a good grasp of the pottery process from beginning to end, and that will be important should I decide I want to do this on my own.

I do have a treat for you this week though, if you can call it that. :) I have taken a couple of pictures of the studio as well as an advance shot of one of my goblets. Check it out!

There you go!

This is a shot of the pottery studio where I take my class, one of the wheel I use, and one of a goblet I made. It has unfired glaze on it, so it may look a little silly, but I promise it's going to be cool. :) I'll be sure to post an after picture of it as well.

That's it for now! Tune in next week for another exciting episode of "As the Wheel Turns"

-J

Pottery 102 - Night 1

Hey all! Yes, it's that time! I have begun my second 8 weeks of pottery class. Night one was a full evening, even though I only threw 4 pieces. I was focusing on quality rather than quantity. I did a pair of one piece goblets, and a couple of cylinders that I think will be nice mugs. I feel like I'm growing a little more capable at least. I'm hoping to really try something big before long. As soon as I'm a little more comfortable making smaller pieces that are somewhat symmetrical I'll give it a go and report on my attempt! Also, the 8 pieces I had ready to bisque fire were in the kiln, along with the pieces Michelle did. We should be able to see how they turned out next week. After those are all glazed, I expect we'll get a good glaze firing and finally get to see how our pieces have ended up. It's a hard thing to wait this long, but I'm being as patient as possible. I know everyone else is ready to see this stuff. It was interesting this time because we have three brand new students in the Tuesday night class. I enjoyed being a "veteran" this time and watched as the new students learned the basics with frustration and got to witness the victories and defeats from the other point of view this time. Always interesting to see how far you've come, and then to watch your instructor throw and realize how far you have to go. :) It was fun to have my step-mother Donita join us on the Tuesday night class. She had been taking the Monday night one, and switched for this 8 week period. So anyway, still plugging away. One week closer to pictures, and I think I'm getting a little better. We'll see! :) Talk to you soon! -Jon

Pottery 101 - Night 8

Well, the first 8 weeks of pottery has come to a close. Very soon I'll be starting my next 8 week session, which I will affectionately call Pottery 102. A quick update about the last night of class: Michelle and I spent most of the night cleaning up pieces we'd already thrown, and preparing them for their bisque firing. I think I have at least 7 pieces ready for the first firing. Let's see...two small noodle bowls, two cups, a mug, two bud vases, one larger vase...I think that's it. That's 8! Then there are the two pieces that are being glazed. We did actually get to start glazing this Tuesday night. We glazed the inside of our bisque pieces. Michelle has two little bowls, and I have a tea bowl and a mug. They're going to be pretty cool I think. The instructor said that Michelle will be able to come back and finish the pieces she has already thrown, so that will be nice. We weren't sure how that would work. We are going to try and finish the glazing this Friday night at first Friday. I believe I have mentioned it before. Arts and Music in Ashland the first Friday of every month. We'll be able to use the studio during that time. And so, we're getting close to actual finished pieces. I think during my Pottery 102 classes I'm going to strive to really make something amazing. Even if it's only one piece, I'm going to try for it. Something where people see it and have to say, "You MADE that? No way!" And I smile smugly and nod. This old thing? Just a lump of mud and unparalleled pottery skeels. :) There will be a few weeks of break on pottery blogs, but soon enough, look for pictures of Pottery 101 creations and Pottery 102 entries! Thanks for reading! -J